5 dead, 100 hurt in North Luzon killer earthquake

>> Thursday, August 4, 2022

Road clearing, relief ops on 

In this photo released by the office of Rep. Menchie Bernos (Abra) shows a structure leaning after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the province and was felt in many parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, on July 27, 2022.Release / Office of Rep. Menchie Bernos

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – At least five people died while a hundred others were injured when a powerful earthquake hit northern Luzon,  as road clearing and rehabilitation works are on, authorities said.
    The 8:43 a.m. quake on Wednesday, July 27, struck Abra causing landslides and collapsing many houses.
    The tremors caused high-rise towers to shake during the earthquake measured at a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 by the US Geological Survey (USGS), 7.2 by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and 7.3 by the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
    Phivolcs later revised the magnitude down to 7.0. Still, the earthquake was strongest to have hit the Philippines in years.
    Five casualties were reported in Cordillera.
    Two were in Benguet, with one each in Kalinga, Abra and Mountain Province, the Police Regional Office Cordillera said.
    The first reported casualty in Benguet was construction worker Aaron Col-eteng, 28, resident of Pinsao Pilot, Baguio City and native of Pilipil, Cervantes, Ilocos Sur.
    He was pinned down when the 3-storey residential house they were constructing in Buyagan, Poblacion, La Trinidad collapsed.
    The area is beside the popular Strawberry Fields.
    Still in Benguet, a 32-year old laborer died after he was buried in a landslide at Bayacsan, Taloy Sur triggered by the earthquake in Tuba town.
    The victim was identified as Resty Emperador Tavas, 32 native of Pugo La Union, and stay-in laborer at M.A. Camilo Construction, Sitio Bayacsan, Taloy Sur, Tuba.
    Benguet police reported two injuries in Kibungan and Bakun.
    In Kalinga, the casualty was identified as Jefferson Basar, 24, of Tandang Sora, Quezon City.
Basar was hit by boulder while working at a rock netting project at Bullalayao, Pantikian, Balbalan.
    His companions named as Kelwayne Pultz, Joseph Gullipis, Christian Tongdo, Shan Adrian Tebon, Renato Manlapaz Jr., and Arris Ammogawen were injured.
    Basar had major injuries and died while being transported to Kalinga Provincial Hospital.
    In Abra, the casualty was identified as student Jonalyn Bilan Siganay, 23, of Langiden, Abra and residing at Zone 5, Bangued.
    She died after a collapsed concrete fence hit her head.
    The Abra provincial government reported 86 injured individuals in the province.
    Some 25 injured and were confined in hospitals, officials said.
    Police Capt. Marnie Abellanida, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera Administrative Region, said Tavas’ coworkers survived the landslide that occurred at around 8:45 a.m. on July 27.
    “They were working in the area when the earthquake occurred. This caused the upper portion of the mountain to erode and buried the victim,” said Abellanida.
    He said it was the victim’s co-workers who retrieved the victim’s body.
    “The victim was immediately taken to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival,” said Abellenida.
    The cadaver of the victim is at the Morgue of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center at press time.
    In Mountain Province, a certain Andres Sagayo, 59, of Pactil, Monamon Sur died in a landslide morning of July 28.
    Disaster officer Mark Naoy of Bauko, said the victim was immediately retrieved by he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Lutheran Hospital in Abatan, Buguias, Benguet.  
    Still in Mountain Province, the last trip for the day of a passenger jeepney carrying 13 passengers from the capital town of Bontoc bound to Sadanga was hit by falling rock while traversing Makutil Road.
    The driver and his female front passenger incurred injuries but were reportedly now in stable condition.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, whose home province is ILocos Norte, ordered rescue and relief teams to be sent to Abra, and was initially planning to fly to the affected area, but later said he would hold off on the trip as not to disrupt the emergency responses.
    USGS said the earthquake’s epicentre was about 11km (7 miles) east-southeast of the town of Dolores.
    Pictures shared on social media by local officials and residents showed some buildings completely collapsed, with others leaning precariously, their windows shattered.
    Some cars were crushed by the debris and roads left crumpled and damaged.
    “The quake was very strong,” police Maj. Edwin Sergio told AFP news agency people in Dolores, adding there were minor cracks in the police station building.
    Eric Singson, Ilocos Sur congressman, told DZMM radio: “The earthquake lasted 30 seconds or more. I thought my house would fall.”
    “Now, we are trying to reach people. Right now there are aftershocks so we are outside our home,” he added.
Elsewhere in Abra province, a hospital was evacuated after the building partially collapsed.
    “We are still experiencing aftershocks. We have received reports of damages to houses. But so far no casualties,” said Mayor Rovelyn Villamor in the town of Lagangilang.
    “We don’t have power supply because that’s automatically cut off due to danger,” Villamor told DZRH radio.
In Vigan City, in the nearby province of Ilocos Sur, centuries-old structures built during the Spanish colonial period were damaged.
    Video shared on Twitter and Facebook showed the city’s Bantay Bell Tower beginning to crumble as onlookers fled.
    The Philippines Red Cross said its teams on the ground were assessing damage in the affected communities.
The Philippines is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000km (25,000-mile) arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. – AD with wire reports

A handout photo made available by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) shows a collapsed building following an earthquake that Abra province in the Philippines main island of Luzon [Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)/EPA] Published On 27 Jul 202227 Jul 2022


Only one lane is passable along Abra-Ilocos Sur National Road as it was badly damaged by the strong earthquake. (  San Quintin DRRMO)



Villagers and rescue workers dig next to a chapel following a landslide caused by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in the northern Philippines, in the village of Mayag in Bauko [Police Regional Office Cordillera/AFP]



THE Vigan City Cathedral sustained damage from the earthquake. (Vigan City Cultural Affairs and Tourism Office)


Rescuers and policemen retrieve a resident from a collapsed building following an earthquake in the northern Philippines [Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)/EPA]



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